Researcher's Destiny
by pokedawnheart
Summary: What if Ash was a girl who also wanted to be a Pokemon Researcher? And her and Gary were friendy rivals? Full Summary Inside. Aura-Smart-Fem-Ash, Darker-Organizations (except the Rocket Trio), Slightly-Nicer-Paul (eventually). Pairings include Palletshipping (Gary x Ashlyn), Gymshipping (Brock x Misty), Contestshipping (Drew x May), Rocketshipping (James x Jessie).
1. Intro

**Okay, this took quite a while to do. I've this idea for quite a while and I've got to say, it's going to interesting.**

 **Here's the full summary:**

 **Ashlyn Ketchum and Gary Oak have both dreamed since a very young age to be great researchers and trainers. To help achieve their shared dream, Ashlyn and Gary became Professor Oak's apprentices. At twelve years in age, the two go on their journey to finally make their dreams a reality. But dark forces are after Ashlyn, and her destiny as the "Chosen One" is tearing into her. Can they complete their dreams together, even with outside forces trying to tear them apart?**

 **Not really a lot to say for the moment. Enjoy!**

 _ **[Intro]**_

In the small town of Pallet of the Kanto region, two children were studying hard for their shared dreams. Five-year-old Ashlyn Ketchum and Gary Oak had been best friends since birth almost, and both had big shoes to fill. Ashlyn's father had been a well-known trainer, a legend some called him, the great Richard "Red" Ketchum. Gary, on the other hand, was the grandson of the great Professor Oak. Both had the same dream of being great trainers and researchers and felt the same urge to prepare as much as possible for their journeys. Which is what they were doing on that fine September day shortly after Ashlyn's fifth birthday.

The two were sitting in a clearing in the nearby forest that they often occupy when they want to be alone. Ashlyn's raven-black hair was shoulder-length and pulled into a low ponytail and her eyes were dark blue, like an ocean at night. She was wearing a blue knee-length simple dress, black leggings and dark blue Mara Janes with black soles and gold buckles. Gary's auburn hair was also shoulder-length- though spiked upwards- and his eyes were a dark brown that was only shades from black. He was wearing a purple shirt, brown leggings and black tennis shoes. Both were reading a book. Ashlyn was reading Myths and Legends while Gary was reading The Ultimate Trainer's Guide.

"Do you think that Professor Oak would teach us some things if we asked him?" Ashlyn suddenly asked her best friend shyly.

"Of course Gramps would," Gary replied in an obnoxious tone, but not truly meaning it. One of the things that made them friends was their ability to understand what each other truly mean. While most kids are offended by Gary's egotistical nature, Ashlyn learned to read him in a way that lets her know that he just wants to be noticed. It was the same way that he could read into her shyness to know that she was just a little socially awkward and insecure. It was just the way they were.

"You really think so?" Ashlyn asked, blue eyes widening. She once had amber eyes, but on the night her father Richard left three months previously, something happened to make her eyes change color. No one knows what caused the change, but Ashlyn wasn't complaining.

"Why don't we ask now? It's not like we'll get anywhere just wondering about it, after all," Gary suggested. Ashlyn tried to protest (weakly) about not wanting to disturb the busy professor, which Gary ignored anyway as he dragged her off to his grandfather's lab.

The ageing professor was glad that his grandson and the young girl he saw as a granddaughter had asked for his assistance with their shared dream and almost immediately took the two as his apprentices. For the next seven years, their days were busy as they repaired habitats, studied both inside and outside the lab and read every book imaginable about any subject they could get their hands on. That's not to say they didn't have any fun, in fact Ashlyn convinced some Fighting-Types to train her in martial arts and the two friends held mock battles against each other. While in school, the two friends would quiz each other on anything they learned from either Professor Oak or their teachers and they were known to never have a book or notebook far from their person's.

They went even farther, making a pact at the age of eleven (shortly after Ashlyn's birthday) that they would travel as far as Viridian City on the first day of their journeys, split for the Indigo League and be full-on rivals then join forces for the rest of the regions that they wish to travel. Professor Oak even gave them each a X-Transceiver to keep in touch for their twelfth birthdays.

Ashlyn gazed the calendar that showed that April 15, the day her journey was to begin, was tomorrow. The past seven of working with the professor had taught her a lot about the world she was about to explore, and she couldn't wait to see it all.

The last thought she had before she went to asleep was if Gary would do good on their pact.

 **Okay, I know it's short, it was only supposed to be an overview on what the two of them are like. I made it so the they start their journeys at the age of twelve instead of ten because that makes more sense to me.**

 **And yes, I included some of the manga characters. Only Red, Blue and Green, though. None of the others will make an appearance, and those three are only mentioned.**

 **Next chapter will be the beginning of the journey for those two.**

 **Please leave a review and I'll see ya'll next chapter.**

 **~pokedawnheart**


	2. Kanto I

**Okay, this was a long time coming. I've been trying to get ahead with this story, and have succeeded partially in that regard.**

 **Okay, Review Answer Time**

 **St. Elmo's Fire: Okay, how to put this?**

 **First: I have fixed the problem you had with the summary. You were right in that it was just a bunch of tags and I apologize for that.**

 **Second: I have taken off the Psychic element from Ash, but I'm only really changing two things about him now. Making him smart and a girl. I admitably can't write Canon-Ash and this story is so that she becomes a reseacher in later years. Canon-Ash just can't do that. Aura, however, is actually a canon element, I'm just making it to where Ash uses it more often.**

 **Third: You must remember that I am** _ **not**_ **a college graduate with an English degree. I may be a senoir in high school, and my dream may be to write novels in the future, but I'm not to that point in life yet. All these tips you're giving me help, but have you actually played the games or read the books that the Pokémon Company publishes? The way I capitalize things is the way they do it.**

 **Fourth: I will admit that the intro chapter wasn't my best work, but it is what it is. I hope that this makes up for it.**

 **So, now that** _ **that**_ **was dealt with, let's go on with show! (Sorry,** **Annie Get Your Gun** **moment.)**

* * *

 _ **[Kanto I]**_

 _It was dark. That was only thing that registered in her mind before the flashes began. A blood-red R, a blue alpha symbol, a red omega symbol, a stylized gold G, a blue P, and a red flame symbol. Then there were three orbs in front of her, one red, one yellow and one blue. A voice echoed around her:_

 _"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its will song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea."_

 ***BEEP*BEEP*BEEP***

Ashlyn slammed her hand on the alarm, waking up instantly. She quickly went through her morning routine. After tying her thick black hair into a mid-ponytail with a blue scrunchy, she gazed into the full-length mirror just outside the bathroom. She had grown a lot from the five-year-old girl who had just been abandoned by her father for no apparent reason.

Her hair, when it wasn't tied up, reached her mid-back, her blue eyes had lightened to a more medium shade, her pale-ish skin had darkened into a tan and she had devolved an athletic build with lean muscles. Her simple light blue dress was sleeveless and knee-length, the skirt beginning at her natural waist with navy beltloops. She had a navy elbow-sleeve jacket over top of her dress. On her hands were a pair of black fingerless gloves with gold rims, and on her right wrist was her blue X-Transceiver. She had on a pair of black leggings under her dress and a black belt with a gold buckle around her waist. On her feet were black socks and dark blue combat boots with gold laces and black soles. She finally tugged on her light blue baseball cap with a gold pokeball symbol on the front onto her head, fitting her ponytail through the hole. Nodding her head at her reflection, she deemed herself ready for action.

Walking down the stairs, she caught sight of her mother, Delia. It hadn't been easy for her mother to rise Ashlyn and her four-year-old adopted brother, Cole, on her own, but she did it. Though the only clear memory Ashlyn had of her father was the night he left without a word, Delia would tell her stories about her father. It was a comfort to both of them.

After eating breakfast and promising to come home before leaving (Ashlyn needed to collect her backpack before she left), Ashlyn was on her way to the Professor Oak's Lab, thinking about which starter to pick. Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle? That was the question, indeed.

By the time she had reached the lab, Ashlyn still hadn't decided on the matter. She shrugged, deciding to make up her mind when she saw them. She stood next to Gary as she gazed at the other two starting trainers, Leaf and Austin.

Leaf Green was a pretty girl with a slim build, slightly tanned skin, mid-back length light brown hair and light green eyes. She was wearing a white fedora with a light pink band, a white short-sleeve t-shirt, pink shorts, a white belt with a silver buckle, long white socks, pink tennis shoes with white laces and soles and white fingerless gloves.

Austin Freeman was a power-hungry boy with a muscular build, tanned skin, military-cut black hair and fierce amber eyes. He wore a black muscle shirt under a brown leather jacket, black leather jeans, a gray belt with a silver buckle, black socks and brown combat boots.

The four of them (with exception of Ashlyn and Gary) can rarely get along with each other. Austin thinks they were all weak, Ashlyn and Leaf would yell at each other about anything, and Gary once got into a fist-fight with Austin over something (Gary would never say what it was about). Before the four could do more than glare at each other, Professor Oak was there to let them in.

They were lead into a rather plain room with white walls and white tile floor. Computers and bookcases lined the walls and a pedastol in the middle of the room. On top of the pedastol were four red and white balls, each with a sticker that indicated what type the Pokémon inside was. There was a leaf one, a teardrop one, a flame one, and, surprising, a lightning bolt one.

"Now, as you can clearly see, there are four trainers starting today. I have a fourth Pokémon, however he is still a bit wild, so only the most responsible among you four will him," the professor said, seeming to stare into Ashlyn's eyes as he did. Austin walked right up to the pedastol and took the extra pokéball and released what was inside. Out came a one foot, four-inch yellow mouse with long, straight black-tipped ears, red pouches on its cheeks, two brown stripes on its back, a lightning bolt shaped tail with brown fur at the base and dark brown eyes. It looked curiously at the four pre-teens before spotting Ashlyn. Its right ear twitched and gave a chirp in greeting.

Before Ashlyn could do anything than stare in amazement, Leaf grabbed the little Pokémon, practically screaming in its ears over its cuteness. The Electric-Type decided that it didn't like the crazy girl holding it, so it shocked her with a Thunder Shock, accidently hitting Austin as well. Once the two were on the ground twitching, the little Pokémon walked over to Ashlyn, let out another chirp before climbing onto her shoulder. She stared at the mouse in confusion before nodding, accepting the apparent decision made. After waking up from the shocking they received, Leaf chose Bulbasaur, Austin chose Charmander and Gary chose Squirtle. They were each given a pokédex and were encouraged to scan their starters before they left the Lab, which they did without further prompting.

 _ **[Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon. Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed on its back grows progressively larger. This Bulbasaur is female and has the ability Overgrow. She knows the moves Tackle, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf and Sleep Powder. She also has the egg move Leaf Storm, which has not been unlocked.]**_

 _ **[Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely. This Charmander is male and has the ability Blaze. He knows the moves Scratch, Ember, Bite and Smokescreen. He also has the egg move Flare Blitz, which has not been unlocked yet.]**_

 _ **[Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. Squirtle's shell is not merely used for protection. The shell's rounded shape and the grooves on its surface help minimize resistance in the water, enabling this Pokémon to swim at high speeds. This Squirtle is male and has the ability Torrent and the hidden ability Rain Dish. He knows the moves Tackle, Withdraw, Water Gun and Bubble. He also has the egg move Aqua Jet, which has not been unlocked yet.]**_

 _ **[Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon. The electric-storing pouches on its cheeks appear to become electrically charged during the night while Pikachu sleeps. It occasionally discharges electricity when it is dozy after waking up. It raises its tail to check its surroundings. The tail is sometimes struck by lightning in this pose. This Pikachu is male and has the ability Static and the hidden ability Lightning Rod. He knows the moves Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, Agility and Charge. He also has the egg move Volt Tackle, which has not been unlocked yet.]**_

Gary and Ashlyn whistled in appreciation for their starters while Austin and Leaf glared at the two for having Pokémon that had unlocked their hidden ability. It was rare for a Pokémon to have more than one ability unless their hidden ability was unlocked (which almost never happens when they are with a trainer) which means that Leaf's and Austin's starters didn't have a good chance of unlocking their hidden abilities Chlorophyll and Solar Power.

While Leaf and Austin were leaving for their journeys, Ashlyn and Gary stayed a little while longer to hear what else they had to do for their researchers dream. They learned that the next part was simple: keep track of any research-worthy events that happen on their journeys and keep it up to date. That said, the two friends left the Lab to find that Delia and Cole had been waiting for them outside of the Lab. After giving Ashlyn her navy and gold backpack, embarrassing her almost to the point of running and making the two promise to keep in touch, she let the new trainers start their long-awaited journey and all the surprises that will come.

* * *

 **Okay, how was that?**

 **By the way, Cole is my OC since I wanted Ashlyn to have a little brother for a later important plot-line after the Hoenn Ark. He was found early one morning on their doorstep when he was a newborn. He won't be appearing much until then.**

 **See you next chapter!**


	3. Kanto II

**Okay, this was a long time coming. I've been trying to get ahead with this story, and have suceeded partically in that regard.**

 **Okay, I feel like I need to explain some important things with my story before poeple get mad later on. For one thing, as I'm sure everyone's noticed, trainers start at the age of twelve. That is because I feel that it's more appropreate. Second, Pokémon can have two abilities and the second doesn't have to be the hidden ability from the games. Like I could have a Psyduck with the main ability of Swift Swim and the hidden ability Cloud Nine, or some combination like that. Last thing is that I have it to where trainers can carry ten pokémon at a time, though the longest battle can only be six-on-six, mainly because I could never write a good story with the six Pokémon limit. I was half-way thinking that a twelve limit would be cool, but that seems like too many Pokémon.**

 **Okay, I think I've rambled enough, let's get this show on the road!**

* * *

 _ **{Kanto II}**_

* * *

The sun was shining brightly as Ashlyn and Gary walked along Route One. The two friends were happily talking with each other over their shared dreams that they were working so hard to fulfill.

"So, what field of study do you think we should do together, Ash?" Gary asked. She had started going by "Ash" around the time she turned eleven since "Ashlyn" was such a mouthful.

"I like the idea of studying the special abilities people could have and how they affect the relationship they have other people and Pokémon," Ash responded. "But, I was thinking."

"About what?" Gary asked.

"What if, when we're traveling together, we have the same species of Pokémon? What would we do to keep track?"

"Maybe one of us could nickname?" Gary suggested. Ashlyn thought about it before nodding in agreement. After a bit more discussion, it was decided that Ash would nickname her Pokémon.

After a bit of thought, Ash turned to her Pikachu, who was still sitting on her shoulder. "What do you think about the name Raiden, Pikachu?" The little mouse thought about it for a few seconds, trying to decide if he liked it, before giving a confirming chirp of agreement. "Raiden it is!" Ash said cheerfully.

Suddenly, a shriek of pain filled the air and, without really thinking about it, Ash ran to the source. Gary sighed but followed his rather head-strong friend, knowing that there was no point in trying to call her back from whatever had caused that shriek.

Ash stopped when she saw that the source was a black bird Pokémon being attacked by a whole flock of brown bird Pokémon with russet wings. Ash froze at the sight of the Spearow flock, the vicious birds were a sore spot with Ash ever since she was ten when she had accidently kicked a rock onto one's wing. The Spearow had called its flock and if Ash hadn't jumped into the nearest water source- a pond- they most likely would had either severely injured or outright killed her that day. She shook off the growing fear and turned to Raiden, who was looking at her in concern. "Charge, then Thunder Shock the Spearows," Ash said. Raiden nodded and jumped from his perch, his cheeks sparking as he raised his Special Attack before releasing a somewhat weak (but also somewhat stronger than normal) bolt of electricity at the flock, who let out their own shriek of pain. Once the shock died down, the lead Spearow glared at Raiden before giving another shriek, this one of fury, and charged at the little mouse. "Agility to dodge, then attack with Quick Attack!" Ash cried in slight panic. Raiden disappeared in a flash of speed then attacked. That was all the Spearow could take and fainted. The rest of the flock, those that didn't faint from the Thunder Shock anyway, fled the area.

Ash sighed in relief and looked at the Pokémon she had just saved. It was raven-black with a yellow hooked beak and legs. On its head was a crest of feathers that looked vaugely like a hat. Ash recongized it as a Murkrow. Its body, however, was covered in scratches that were still bleeding and one of its wings was slightly crooked. The worst of the damage was the gash on its chest, which was still bleeding heavily. Ash quickly took off her backpack and rummaged through the medicine pocket for bandages and a Potion while Gary approached from behind. Once she found the items she needed, she sprayed the Potion onto the wounds, making the Murkrow shriek once more in pain, and then wrapped them as best she could in the bandages.

"You know that won't be enough," Gary commented while Ash tied the last bandage into place.

"I know, but it will be good enough until we get to Viridian City," Ash responded before taking a pokéball from her bag. She never expected to make her first capture so soon into her journey, but this was an emergency and if the Murkrow doesn't want to be her Pokémon, then she'll release it. What mattered at that moment was getting the bird straight to the Pokémon Center for medical attention. She tapped the pokéball to the bird and captured the Pokémon without hardly a twitch. The duo quickly ran to Viridian City, not noticing the redheaded thirteen-year-old fishing by the river who looked at them strangely before continuing her fishing.

The duo entered Viridian City after dealing with Officer Jenny, who was checking everyone who entered the city becuase of Team Rocket. They ran to the Pokémon Center, dropped off Murkrow and called the professor to tell him that they were alright. They had just finished with the phone call when the roof exploded and the choas started.

Once the smoke cleared (one trainer used a Pidgey's Gust), it revealed two teenagers with three Pokémon. The male was sixteen and had periwinkle shoulder-length hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with a red "R" over a black undershirt, white pants, black boots and black gloves. In front of him floated a purple sphere with a grinning face and a white skull and cross-bones design. The female was fifteen with long magenta hair and blue eyes. She wore almost the same things as her partner, except her shirt and undershirt cut off at her mid-driff, she wore a miniskirt instead of pants and she had green pearl-shaped earings. In front of her was a purple snake with a yellow band below its head, a yellow rattle-like tail and yellow eyes. Between the teens was a cream-colored cat with black eyes and standing on its brown hindpaws. It had a gold amulet coin on its forehead and its tail-tip was brown and curled.

Once they were revealed, the teens started _singing a poem_ to introduce themselves. To finish, the cream-colored cat spoke in a heavily-accented English. Ash, although already knowing a lot about all three Pokémon there, took out her Pokédex to scan each one.

 **{Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon. If Koffing becomes agitated, it raises the toxicity of its internal gases and jets them from all over its body. This Pokémon may also overinflate its round body, then explode.}**

 **{Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. Ekans curls up in a spiral while it rests. Assuming this position allows it quickly respond to a threat from any direction with a glare from its upraised head.}**

 **{Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokémon. Meowth withdraws its sharp claws into its paws to slinkily sneak about without making any incriminating footsteps. For some reason, this Pokémon loves shiny coins that glitter with light.}**

Ash nodded at the information, eyes locked on the Meowth. As a young girl, Ash had wanted a cat-like Pokémon and she happened to have a soft-spot for Meowth and its evolved form Persian. Who cared if the teens were of Team Rocket, she could tell that all three Pokémon were barely trained and weak. So, a plan started to form in her head, to get the teenage duo out of Team Rocket and working for her and Gary in later years.

The battle that followed was rather easy, and Ash was somewhat disappionted. She had expected a better challenge from the duo. The two trainers soon retired to their shared room for the night, talking about the different events of the day, as well as trying to make a more concret plan on the hows, wheres and whys of their shared researchers' dream. It was, after all, just about the _only_ thing about their future plans that they weren't yet sure about. They got the basics down, but they needed to figure out a few things, some of which they wouldn't know until they inplanted their plans.

It was good to talk about to each other, though.

* * *

 **Was it good?**

 **Originally, I was going to make Ash's first caught Pokémon a female Pidgeotto who I was going to call Storm and leave Murkrow for Mt Moon or sometime around then, but the fact of the matter was that Murkrow can learn more moves than the Pidgey line, so I had to cut Storm from the story. Plus, I'm trying to give Ash a little less Pokémon rather than having about a hundred Pokémon running around Professor Oak's ranch.**

 **If you have any Pokémon that you want Ash or Gary to catch sometime in this story, tell me and I will try to inplant it. That goes for moves that you want any Pokémon to learn as well.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **~pokedawnheart**


	4. Kanto III

**Well, it's been a while with this story. Chapter Four was being a pain.**

 **Review Answer Time!**

 **Brie45 - You actually listed almost all that was going give Ashlyn and Gary. Unfutunately, I will** _ **not**_ **be giving Gary a Pikachu, even if he evolved it. And he also won't be gettting a Kingdra. Sorry.**

 **Nagisa Maeda - OK, I'm going to say that I'm NOT going to use any Sun and Moon Pokémon. But I would not say no to having Ashlyn have a Vulpix.**

 **ichika aono - I'm glad that you find my story so interesting. But I must ask what you like about my story.**

 **OK, that's all the reviews for the chapter. I hope you enjoy Chapter Three.**

* * *

 _ **{Kanto III}**_

* * *

The sun rose as Gary and Ash sat in the waiting room of the Pokémon Center. Well, Gary was sitting, Ash was pacing around the room. They had received news that Ash's new Murkrow had recovered from its injuries, and now was the time that Murkrow would have to make its choice: Either stay with Ash where it would be well trained and taken care of, or return to the wild. Ash was, rather understandably, nervous about what the bird Pokémon would choose.

Finally, Nurse Joy walked into the waiting room with Murkrow's Pokéball and handed it to Ash, who nodded her thanks. Together, the two trainers went to the training field where Ash took a steading breath and released the Murkrow. Its sharp gaze was trained on Ash as it waited for a reason as too why it was released from the pokéball it had started to acknowledge as its own.

"Listen Murkrow," Ash nearly whispered to the bird in her uneasiness. She then took a deep breath to calm herself. "Do you actually _want_ to be my Pokémon? Or would you rather go back to the wild?" The Murkrow continued to stare into Ash's blue eyes before hopping over to her side and nuzzled her legs with a happy caw. Ash laughed in relief before grabbing her pokédex and scanning her new teammate.

 **{Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon. Murkrow was feared and loathed as the alleged bearer of ill fortune. This Pokémon shows strong interest in anything that glitters. It will even try to steal rings from women. This Murkrow is male and has the ability Super Luck and the hidden ability Insomnia. He knows the moves Peck, Astonish, Pursuit, Wing Attack. He also has the egg move Brave Bird, which is locked.}**

Ash nearly jumped up and down in excitement but barely restrained herself. Her Murkrow must have had a powerful family line to have Brave Bird as an egg move! Ashlyn knew the perfect name for her new Pokémon and she knew that it would work.

"What do you think of the name Nightwing, Murkrow?" Ash asked and Murkrow paused in thought before letting out a caw of agreement.

Gary, who had been watching from the edge of the field during the exchange, now stepped foward as Nightwing and Raiden started to converce with each other. "Well, that went as expected," he grinned.

"What do mean by that?" Ash asked.

"I just figured that, because you had saved Nightwing from the Spearows, he'd go with you to repay the favor," Gary shrugged. Ash thought about it for a minute before agreeing that it could be a reason for Nightwing to stay.

"So, the time has come for the agreement to take affect?" Ash asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah. I guess," Gary replied while rubbing the back of his head in nervousness. He then grabbed his backpack and turned around to head back inside the Pokémon Center before looking over his shoulder. "Ever Saturday at eight, right?"

"Right," Ash said with a nod and held out her hand. The two friends shook hands before Gary headed back inside the Pokémon Center and out into the busy streets of Viridian City. Ash watched her friend leave with a heavy heart before turning back towards Raiden and Nightwing, who were watching her in concern. "I'm fine guys." Raiden gave her a a long look before shrugging, seeming to accept her answer. Nightwing just nodded in acceptness.

For the next three hours, Ash had Raiden and Nightwing train to learn the move Double Team while she worked on her martial arts. To learn Double Team affectably, Raiden and Nightwing had to make one copy and hold it for a minute before moving on to two copies and so on. By the end of the three hours, Raiden could hold seven copies for three minutes and Nightwing could hold five for the same amount of time. They stopped for lunch before Ash took the two of them back to Route One for more training, this time for the moves Roost for Nightwing and Iron Tail for Raiden. They trained for another three hours, in which time Nightwing nearly mastered his move while Raiden could hold on to the Steel-Type energy for two minutes. That happened for three days straight before Ash finally decided that they needed to get moving. During that time, Nightwing and Raiden could both hold ten copies for nearly twenty minutes, Nightwing mastered Roost and had moved on to Haze (which was nearly mastered) and Raiden had only just mastered Iron Tail.

Before they continued on their way to Route Two and Viridian Forest, Ash made sure to stock up on supplies like Potions, Full Heals, bandages, human and Pokémon food and vitimens. On the way out of Viridian City, a thought occurred to Ash and she looked over at Raiden, who was walking beside her. She took Raiden's pokéball from her belt and tried to return him. As she half-way expected, the Pikachu quickly dodged the red beam and glared her for doing that. Ash just nodded and shrugged off her backpack, putting the pokéball in a side pocket for safekeeping. And that was the end of that conversation.

* * *

 **So, how was it? I loved the last scene with Raiden and the pokéball. As for why it didn't happen before, Ashlyn just never thought about it.**

 **It's going to take a while before I put up Chapter Four, so please review and tell me what you think!**

 **~pokedawnheart**

 **2/20/2018**


	5. Kanto IV

**Ok, I'm sorry that it's been a while since my last update for this story, but I just had a very busy week and I couldn't write for** _ **any**_ **of my stories. But now that the week is over, I can work again!**

 **Okay, just so you know (so that I don't get any reveiws saying that I'm OPing Ash) it took Ash almost two weeks to get to Pewter after the three-day training camp on Route One. She'd wake up around sunrise, eat some breakfast with her Pokémon, train in dodging for an hour, travel for another hour before stopping for some more training for an hour, and so on. This continues until about nine at night, when she goes to sleep. Add the many other trainers on Route Two and Viridian Forest, then it makes sense that Raiden and Nightwing are going to get strong quickly.**

 **Ok, now that is explained, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Ash had spent the whole day travelling beside Raiden when they stopped for the night half-way through the southern half of Route Two. She let out Nightwing and the three of them ate some dinner before training started.

"Okay you two," Ash said once dinner was put away, "this time, were going to be focusing on raising your stats." Raiden and Nightwing nodded. "First, I need you to run or fly between this tree," Ash explained while pointing to a large oak tree about three feet from her tent, "to that stream," here, Ash pointed to a stream about three and a half yards from the three. "Do it until you drop." Both Pokémon nodded in confirmation before starting the exercise. This continued for twenty minutes before Raiden collapased. About five minutes later, Nightwing met the same fate.

"Okay, that was almost better than I was expecting," Ash admitted while she gave both Pokémon a Oran Berry, to help them recover their energy for the next part. "After you two rest up, we'll start a dodging exercise. I just need to get something really quick."

After a three minute rest, Raiden and Nightwing were ready for more training. The next exercise was almost a repeat of the last one execpt for the fact that the whole time they had to dodge small foam blue balls that Ash threw. This lasted for fifteen minutes before both were tagged. After that, both of them went back to mastering the moves that they learning, Haze and Iron Tail. After about thirty minutes, both moves were mastered and they could move on to the next ones: Rock Smash for Raiden and Steel Wing for Nightwing.

It was rather easy going for Nightwing, as he had Raiden to ask for extra advise, but Raiden was having some difficulties since he had never dealt with Fighting-Type energy before. Ash knew that it would take time, but at the same time wanted both Pokémon to master their assigned moves quickly since neither Raiden and Nightwing currently have moves that could work against Brock's Pokémon with exeption of Raiden's Iron Tail.

The training went on until almost ten, when they finally went to sleep.

This continued for two days before they reached Viridian Forest. In that short amount of time, Nightwing was close to mastering Steel Wing and Raiden had mastered Rock Smash and was now working on Dig. It took Ash a week to get out of Viridian Forest, mainly because of all the annoying bug catchers, during which both Raiden and Nightwing had mastered their new moves and she had set them on the next ones; Agility for Nightwing and Spark for Raiden. Her chat with Gary that week was mainly about the training that they were doing, what Pokémon they had caught (Gary had a new Eevee that he had found in Pewter) and the fact that Gary had his first badge already.

Petwer City was a city made almost completely of stone, earning it the nickname "The City of Stone". Ash walked into the Pokémon Center and had Nurse Joy look over her two Pokémon while she planned out a stratagy. She knew that the first Gym trained Rock-Types, and thanks to Gary she knew what two Pokémon she'd be facing: a Geodude and an Onix. She thought about ideas for the upcoming battle, but her thoughts kept trying to go over to Gary and the dream she'd had just before setting out on her journey. She shook off the distracting thoughts and concentrated. In the end, it took her an hour to figure out a battle stratagy while trying to shake those odd thoughts from her head. After the hour was up, she picked up her Pokémon and went to the training grounds to train further.

Since she had long since decided to challenge the Gym Leader three days after arriving in Pewter, Ash went to the Mueseum for some fun on her second day there. It was interesting, mainly because she happen upon information on Mt. Moon that she looked through thoroughly. But when she looking over the fossil section, she noticed a fourteen-year-old girl with short red hair pulled into a side ponytail gazing at the fossils with facination in her aqua-colored eyes.

"Hi," Ashlyn said, sitting down next to the girl.

"Oh, hello," the girl replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Just relaxing before my Gym battle tomorrow. You?"

"I'm actually just taking a break from traveling for a moment," the girl replied. "My name Misty."

"I'm Ashlyn. You can just call me Ash," Ash replied.

The pair talked for a while, mainly about Pokémon. Ash learned that Misty wanted to a Water-Type Master and already had a Starmie (who was her starter), Staryu and Goldeen. The girls struck up a rather easy friendship, something that had Ash very happy. Growing up, she only ever had Gary as a friend, and while he was the best friend she could ask for, there were just some things that a girl can't share with a guy like they can with another girl.

Three hours later, Ashlyn returned to the Pokémon Center with Misty. The Water-Type trainer agreed to watch Ash's battle against Brock the next day and Ash was getting excited. Sure she was at a double disadvantage, what with both Flying- and Electric-Types being weak to Rock-Types, but that's what made it exciting.

The next morning, Ash and Misty made their way to the Gym. The inside was dark, making Ash wonder for a brief moment if no one was in, before a voice startled the pair of girls:

"Who goes there!"

"My name is Ashlyn Ketchum from Pallet Town and I challenge you to a Gym battle!" Ash called back into the darkness.

"Very well," the voice replied before the lights cut on. Sitting cross-legged on the battlefield was a tan-skined fifteen-year-old boy with spikey brown hair and slanted eyes, wearing an orange T-shirt under a green cargo vest, brown jeans and blue and white sneakers, whom Ash guessed to be Brock. Standing up, he walked over the the Gym Leader's side of the field while Ash took the challenger's side and Misty sat down on the benches. The referee, a thriteen-year-old boy who look a lot like Brock, took his spot on the raised platform.

"This is a two-on-two battle between Gym Leader Brock and challenger Ashlyn. First trainer to lose both Pokémon loses," he anounced.

"Geodude, let's go," Brock said, releasing a tan spherical rock-like Pokémon with muscular arms.

"You're up Nightwing," Ash said, releasing her Murkrow.

"Battle Begin!" came the call of the ref.

"Rock Throw!" he comanded. Geodude started throwing the rocks that surrounded the battlefield in order to hit Nightwing and cause quite an amount of damage. Ash, though, had a plan for that.

"Agility to avoid them!" Ash called. Nightwing seemed to disappear before re-appearing on the other side of the field repeatedly. Every rock thrown passed through an after-image before Brock got tired of the 'game'.

"Rock Polish into Rollout!" Brock snapped. Ash winced at how irritated he seemed. Geodude glowed silver as it reduced its drag to raise its speed stat before crossing its arms around its body and rolling like a ball towards Nightwing, who had perched on one of the boulders.

"Steel Wing to defend!" Ash said hurriedly. Nightwing's wings glowed silver with metalic energy before hitting Geodude from the side, forcing the Rock-Type to roll right into the wall opposite of the benches where Misty was sitting with enough force to crack it. "Opps," Ash winced, cringing in sympathy.

"Geodude, you okay?" Brock asked his Pokémon. When Geodude nodded, Brock sighed in relief. "Okay, let's try that again. Rollout!" Once more, Geodude wrapped his arms around his body to initiate the attack, but Ash wasn't about to let them.

"Haze, then Steel Wing once more!" Out of Nightwing's beak came a black fog, simular to a Smokescreen attack, that covered the field, making it nearly impossible to see. From within the cloud came a scream of pain. The fans kicked in and blew the Haze attack away, revealing Nightwing once more perched on a boulder and Geodude knocked out.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Murkrow wins," the ref announced as Brock returned Geodude back to its pokéball, Ash doing the same with Nightwing. Both trainers then released their final Pokémon: Onix and Raiden.

"Quick Attack Raiden," Ashlyn said, taking the first move of the match. Raiden took off at a high speed, leaving a white streak on energy behing him, striking the huge rock snake in its head after an impressive leap. Unsurprisingly, Onix didn't take too much since it was made completely of rock, but it did leave Brock in surprise with Raiden's speed.

"Tackle while its close," Brock ordered. Onix rammed its head directly into Raiden's small body before the Pikachu could use his speed to get away. Ash cringed at the sight of her starter being tackled by the huge rock snake, especially when Raiden had such low Defense. Thankfully, Raiden didn't suffer any more damage since he corrected his balance and landed on his paws.

"Dig into Rock Smash." Raiden hurriedly dug into the ground, and before long there was only a hole where the Electric-Type had been. A few moments later, Raiden erupted from the ground with his right forepaw glowing orange, punching Onix before dropping onto its rocky body. "Iron Tail!" Raiden's tail glow silver with metalic energy before slamming it onto Onix's body repeatably. Onix roared in pain from the super effective attack combined with the lowering Defense effect of Rock Smash, before finally collapsing to the ground, unconcsious.

"Onix is unable to battle. Since Gym Leader Brock has no more Pokémon, the match goes to challenger Ashlyn Ketchum!" the ref. called.

Ash barely heard, though. Raiden had leaped in her arms, so she was too busy holding her starter in the air in victory. Brock watched the scene with a small smile, having returned Onix for a rest, before walking over with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"You showed real adaptability in that battle," Brock said.

"Thanks," Ash replied with a slight blush. She was always shy and getting complaments was something that she'd never truely get used to. "The real stars are Nightwing and Raiden, though, for pulling it off."

"Nevertheless, you did a good job training them," Brock said, holding a gray hexagon-shaped badge in his hand. "Here, the Boulder Badge. You earned it."

Ash stared at the badge for a moment before accepting it, giving a nod of thanks to the older teen. The trio went to the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon healed, talking all the while.

"So, did you always want to a Gym Leader?" Ash asked. Brock looked a little suprised at the question, but answered anyway.

"Not really. I mean, it's somewhat fun to battle new trainers, but I actually want to travel and become a Pokémon Breeder. Besides, I'm only a tempory Gym Leader since my father got into a car wreck about a month ago. His right arm was broken, along with a few cracked ribs, but he should be returning to the position soon."

Right at that moment, the Pewter City Nurse Joy called Ash and Brock to the counter for their Pokémon. As it was getting close to lunchtime, Brock invited Ash and Misty to eat with his family. Seeing no harm in the proposal, the two agreed. During lunch, Brock's father, a man called Flint, annonced that he was healed enough from his acciedent to take over as Gym Leader once more, freeing Brock to be able to travel and achieve his dream. Almost as soon as the annoncement was made, Brock asked Ash and Misty if he could travel with them and they accepted.

That night, Ash called her mother and Professor Oak with the news on a video-phone before calling Gary on her X-Transiver.

 _(Hey, Ash,)_ Gary said after picking up.

"Hey to you too, Gary," Ash replied.

 _(So, any new news?)_

"Yeah. I made it to Pewter alright, made a friend in a girl called Misty, challenged and beat Brock using Nightwing against his Geodude and Raiden against Onix, his father has healed enough to take over the Gym once more and now Brock is going to be traveling with me and Misty. Anything new with you?"

 _(Damn, Ashy-Girl, you really do make friends quickly. My Squirtle evolved during training a little while ago. He really isn't that much different. Eevee decided what he wanted to evolve into; an Umbreon. And I caught a Sandshrew about three days ago. I tried to challenge the Cerulean Gym, but it was a joke. It's run by three sisters who don't know the first thing when it come to Pokémon. The oldest, Daisy I think her name her was, told me that the true battler of them was away for a training trip. I somewhat doubt that they'd taken any of their Pokémon to the Pokémon Center after any of their battles. I think Leaf and Austin are ahead of us.)_

"Wow, sounds like you're having the adventure you wanted. And why do you assume that Leaf and Austin are ahead of us?"

 _(Daisy mentioned two Pallet Town had already beaten her younger twin sisters. No one else it could've been. So, how has online schooling working out for you?)_ Gary asked with a smirk.

"It's working out well. How about you?" Ashlyn asked back. That was another thing that they had agreed on; online schooling. They had stopped attending normal classes when they were eight, instead focusing their efforts to learn all they could from Professor Oak. This had lead the old Professor to brag about them to the rest of his caleagues, not that they minded.

 _(It's alright. It actually gets easier to manage when I let Wartortle, Eevee and Sandshrew play while I work.)_

There was a sudden noise close by that startled Ash, making her look to see what had caused it. She didn't know if she should be amused or embarassed when she realized that Brock and Misty were listening in on her conversation.

"Ah, sorry to cut this short Gary, but I need to deal with a few things. Next week, same time?" Ash asked hurriedly.

 _(Next week, same time.)_ Gary confirmed.

"Bye."

 _(Bye.)_

With that, Ash cut the call and rounded on her two new friends, who pointed at each other. Ash let out a laugh at the thought of how fun her journey was turning out to be.

* * *

 **Ok, how was it? Did I introduce Misty alright? What about the whole thing with Flint? I wanted something different than cannon to explain why he wasn't the Gym Leader when Ash, or any of the other Pallet trainers, came to Pewter.**

 **And I put in a hint about Misty in the conversation between Ash and Gary.**

 **And the online schooling thing came in because it just made sense that the two of them would take that route in education.**

 **Did I do the Gym battle right?**

 **And I put in the first hint of Palletshipping! Though they won't get together for a** _ **loooooong**_ **while. The part I'm looking foward to the most is actually the matchmaker attempts within the group of friends.**

 **So please leave a review and tell me what you think.**

 **~pokedawnheart 3/25/2018**


	6. Kanto V

**Okay, this chapter and the next one have been finished for a while, I'll admit, and I'm actually working on Chapter Seven (barely anything done there, though) but the thing is when I was ready to post this chapter, we had no internet because we were moving locations (literally fifty feet, maybe, from our old trailer and still on our property) and our internet provider people were being kinda stupid, and then my muse struck for other stories and now I'm only just now posting this.**

 **And holy crap! I just looked at the story profile and I have 114 favorites and 111 followers! People must love this story more than I assumed they would.**

 **Thanks to my three reviewers for the previous chapter; ichicka aono, foxchick1 and GlowingLanturn!**

 **Okay, I also have a problem that I want to solve. In Chapter Seven (the one I'm working on now) Ashlyn will catch the same Bulbasaur from the anime. However, I don't have a good nickname set for him, instead I have a temporary one, Chrys. Should I keep it as Bulbsuar's name, or do you guys have a better one that I could use instead? Chrys, by the way, is short for Chrysanthamum, a type of flower that my mom loves. My family made a joke that if we ever got a female puppy of any breed, we'd name her that and call her Chrys for short.**

 **And another question, when do you guys want the Rocket Trio to quit Team Rocket? I have many plans for them once they quit (they'll become minor character, though) but I was wondering when you would like to see that happen.**

 **Okay, I 've bored you enough with this note, let the Chapter begin!**

The next morning, the trio left Pewter City, on route to Cerulean City. But they first had to go through Mt. Moon, a huge mountain with twisting tunnels that created a natural maze.

When they arrived at the main entrance, Ash could tell something was up. It didn't help matters when they found a man in his early thirties being swarmed by a Zubat flock.

"Raiden, Thunder Shock the flock!" Ash said. Raiden's cheeks sparks as he let loose a small lightning bolt. It shocked the Poison/Flying dual Types, causing them to shriek in pain before fleeing. No one noticed Brock tossing a pokéball at one of the more badly injured Zubat and capturing it.

It took a little while to calm down the man. Not because of the fright he received, but because he wouldn't stop hero-warshipping Ash for 'saving' him. Finally, Raiden decided to shock _him_ with a Thunder Shock, causing him to fall to the ground, twitching and whimpering from the pain. Once the man recovered from the shock (pun intended), he explained the situation: Someone had put up illegal lights in the tunnels while possibly searching for the gaint Moon Stone that had given the mountain its name, and it was badly effecting the Pokémon who lived there. The trio agreed to help the man, who introduced himself as Semore the Scientist.

It took them quite a while of wandering in the tunnels before they found a small, pink star-shaped Pokémon. Ash nearly squealed in excitment at seeing the Cleffa, as Fairy-Types were quite rare in most of the regions, mainly living in Kalos. Thankfully for her pride, she managed to restrain her excitment, even if she couldn't contain a small squeak. She then glared at Brock and Misty for laughing at her.

It didn't take too long after that for the four of them to learn who was behind the whole lighting situation; Jessie and James of Team Rocket. Ash was almost displeased with that fact, as it had been a little over two weeks since her last encounter with them and she still wanted to talk to them about convincing them to quit Team Rocket. Nevertheless, she and Brock beat them quickly before the quartlet continued through the tunnels, following the Cleffa to the huge cavern just as the sun was settling. Ash was somewhat surprised at how fast the day went, but that wasn't a new thing for the pre-teen, who could spend all day learning from Professor Oak and have to be reminded to go back home for the night whenever her and Gary didn't have a sleepover.

As the full moon rose, the gaint Moon Stone glowed a bluish-silver. The Clefairy's cerimony was beautiful, and Ash recorded it all. She was pretty sure that Professor Oak was going to majorly geek out when she showed him the recording, so she pledged to show it to him in person so that she could record his reaction and share both with Gary.

The Cleffa that they'd followed there seemed content to sit with Raiden and Nightwing, whom Ash had let out for some socalization.

As the night drew to a close, ten of the swenty-six Clefairys in the tribe had evolved to Clefable. Semore decided that he needed to stay in Mt. Moon to help the tribe defend their treasure. And one of the Clefables had given each of the three trainers a Moon Stone shard.

But the real surprise was the next day, when the Cleffa followed the trio and their Clefairy guide.

"What are doing here, little one?" Ash asked, kneeling to be eye-level with the little Fairy-Type.

"Cleff-cleffa fa fa," it replied while pointing to a empty pokéball on Ash's belt. Ash was surprised that the Cleffa wanted to go with her, but she didn't complain, simply taking the empty pokéball that Cleffa was pointing to and presented it to the Fairy-Type. Cleffa cheered as it touched the center button, allowing the capture. Ash let out Cleffa and scaned it with her PokéDex.

 **{Cleffa, the Star Shape Pokémon. On nights with many shooting stars, Cleffa can be seen dancing in a ring. They dance through the night and stop only at the break of day, when these Pokémon quench their thirst with the morning dew. This Cleffa is female and has the ability Cute Charm. She knows the moves Pound, Encore, Sing, Copycat and Magical Leaf. She also has the egg moves Heal Pulse and Wish, both of which are locked.}**

"That's an impressive moveset," Ash said, making the Cleffa blush. "What do you think of the name Star for yourself?" she asked. Cleffa seemed to think on it for a few minutes before noding in acceptence. Ash then returned Star so that the trio could exit the mountain before going on a bit of a training break near Cerulean City.

 **(~)(~)(~)**

After ariving in the coastal city and getting their Pokémon healed, Ash left for Route 24 for the training break while Brock went to stock up on supplies and Misty went to 'take care' of something. She picked a small clearing and released her three Pokémon.

"Ok gang, we have three days to let Star catch up to your levels in terms of moveset and stats before we take on the Gym. For now, this is what we'll focus on. Once we get her up-to-date, then we'll work on training all together. For one hour, you'll work on Star's stats then she'll move on to move tutoring with me while you two do you exercises," Ash explained. Raiden and Nightwing nodded and lead Star over to the center of the clearing to start the training while Ash stayed there to take notes.

At the end of the hour, Ash took over training by teaching Star the move Attract while Raiden and Nightwing worked on their moves. This went on for another two hours before Ash had to return to Cerulean since the sun was setting and she'd promised her friends that she'd return by nightfall.

All in all, it was a very productive day.

 **Okay, how was that? I hope no one is too upset about its shortness.**

 **Please leave a review, especially with the two questions in the top note.**

 **~pokedawnheart**

 **4/29/2018**


	7. Kanto VI

**Hello! Sorry it's been a while, but Chapter Seven was being a real pain. Literally!**

 **Also, I HAVE GRADUATED!**

 **I am finally done with high school and am now trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life!**

 **(I'm really considering being a high school history teacher. But I've known for a while now that I want to be a fiction writer.)**

 **Anyways, thank you to the reviewers for Chapter Five; foxchick1, Kamikashi (no, the Rocket Trio will not be getting a food truck, they'll be Ash and Gary's helpers, I covered that in Chapter Two), and multyfangirl20 (1. Yes, they do look older than Brock, but I think that the animators just messed up on that. 2. Yes, they do both get Eevees, Gary already has one and Ash gets one very soon. 3. I like your sugesstion). I am so glad that everyone has been enjoying this adventure.**

 **Well, I think that's all I wanted to tell you, so please enjoy the Chapter!**

* * *

 _ **{Kanto VI}**_

Three days later, Ash deemed Star caught up with Raiden and Nightwing. Her stats were coming along greatly and she had already mastered the moves Attract, Secret Power and Dazzling Gleam and was starting to learn Grass Knot. She'd even managed to unlock one of her egg moves, Wish.

Raiden had mastered Spark on the second day and then surprised everyone by learning Thunderbolt during a mock battle with Nightwing, who was praticing his new move Night Shade.

All in all, Ash felt ready for the Gym Battle, even if Gary had said that it would be a waste of time.

Of course, she got quite the surprise when she got there. Not only were the three Gym Leaders there not interested in battles (perfering to work on their water shows), but Misty was the youngest sister that Gary had said that Daisy mentioned! Apperantly, Misty had left to train, trusting her older sisters to take care of the Gym in her abustance.

 _Well,_ Ash thought while watching the sisters fight, _that wasn't something I saw coming._

"Woah, Misty. You can yell at them later," Ash said as she held her friend's hand to stop the redhead from beating her sisters over the head with the malllet she had in her other hand.

"Yeah, like, listen to her," the oldest, Daisy, said nervously.

"Fine," Misty responded before turning to Ash. "You still want to battle?"

"Yeah," Ash answered with a smirk. Misty nodded and started walking out of the lobby.

"Then follow me and I'll battle you, since my sisters don't seem to care about the Gym."

Brock entered the lobby right at that moment and followed Ash (who was following Misty) into the battlefield room, this field being a water field as opposed to the rock field at the Pewter Gym. A referee stepped into his place as Brock and Misty's sisters sat down in the bleachers.

"This is a three-on-three battle between Gym Leader Misty and challenger Ashlyn. The first trainer to have all three Pokémon unable to battle loses. Futhermore, only the challenger can substitute one Pokémon for another at any time. Understand?" the referee asked. When both trainers nodded, he continued, "Then let the battle begin!"

"Go Goldeen," Misty said while releasing the goldfish from its pokéball.

"Star, you're up," Ash responded, releasing the Fairy-Type.

"Aqua Ring then Water Pulse!" Misty comanded. Two rings of water surrounded the fish before it shot off a orb of condensed water.

"Defend with Magical Leaf!" Star made multi-colored leaves that tore up the Water Pulse then attacked Goldeen, who cried out in pain. A second later, the two rings of water that was Aqua Ring reappeared, healing Goldeen slightly.

"Horn Attack!" Goldeen charged fowards with its horn glowing white.

Ash just watched as the Pokémon came closer before finally giving a comand. "Jump to another platform, then use Sing." The little Cleffa imediately jumped to aviod the incoming fish and starting a sing a beautiful lullaby. Goldeen couldn't help but to stop and listen, and just by that the damage was done. As Star sang, Goldeen started to fall asleep bit by bit until it went limp in the water. "Now use Dazzling Gleam." Star's small body glowed a pale pink for a few seconds before expelling the light as energy that struck Goldeen.

"Goldeen! Wake up!" Misty cried. Futunately for her, the goldfish Pokémon woke up at that moment. "Great Goldeen! Now strike with Water Pulse!" The fish fired another orb of water, this time hitting Star, making her cry in pain and surprise.

"Magical Leaf barrage!" Ash said as calmly as she could. Star took that cue and released the multi-colored leaves by twirling her body. As Magical Leaf was one of a few moves that couldn't be dodged, Goldeen never stood a chance of avioding the super-effective attack. And that was the last Goldeen could take as it fainted.

"Goldeen is unable to battle. Cleffa wins this round!" the referee annonced while Misty withdrew her fainted Pokémon.

"Staryu, you're up!" Misty said while releasing the gold starfish.

"You ok to continue Star or do I need switch you out?" Ash asked. Star shook her head and made punching motions with her little fists, showing that she was still ready to fight. "Ok," she responded.

"You're gonna wish you had switched out Ash. Bubble Beam!" The red gem at the center of Staryu's body glowed blue and a stream of bubbles erupted from it. Star was too surprise from the speed of it to dodge and instead took the hit with a cry of pain.

"Magical Leaf!" Ash yelled in desperation. Cleffa spun around while taking the Bubble Beam, releasing the multi-colored leaves and striking the Starfish Pokémon, forcefully stopping the Bubble Beam attack.

"Switch to Swift!" Misty called when the leaves started hitting. In response, Staryu let out multiple stars and the two attacks battled it out, which ended in a small explosion as neither were able to overpower the other. It took a few seconds for the smoke to clear, but once it did it showed Star, who didn't yet have the endurance to handle too many big battles, out cold while Staryu was still standing.

"Cleffa is unable to battle. Staryu wins this round!" the ref. annonced.

"Good job Star," Ash muttered while returning the little Star Shaped Pokémon back to her pokéball. "Nightwing, you're up!" she said as she released the crow-like Pokémon.

"You're going to regret that decision! Staryu, Ice Beam!" Misty said. From the top point came three beams of frozen energy.

"Don't count me out now, Haze! Then free reign!" Ash responded. Black smoke billowed out of Nightwing's beak, covering the field. From within the smoke, there was a flash of ice-blue before a cry of pain was heard. Only it wasn't the squawk of a bird.

The smoke cleared a few minutes of tense waiting later, showing Nightwing still flying in the air over a platform while Staryu was struggling to stand. The Starfish Pokémon eventually fainted due to whatever had happened in the smoke cloud.

"Staryu is unable to battle. Murkrow wins this round!" the ref. annonced.

"Okay," Misty drawled while returning Staryu to its pokéball, "that was unusual."

"And that was the stratagey: Using Haze for cover before hitting with a barrage of Steel Wings before ending with a Night Shade," Ash explained with a smirk.

"Well, you won't be able to use that trick next round. Go Starmie!" Misty replied. Out came a larger purple starfish with ten limbs and a red-violet gen at its center.

"Return Nightwing!" Ashlyn said while returning the crow to its pokéball. She then turned to her starter. "It's up to you now Raiden."

"Pika!" Raiden replied and jumped to the nearest platform.

"We'll take the first move this time! Raiden, start off with Thunder Shock!" Ash said. Raiden's cheecks sparked with elecrtical power for a few seconds before unleasing a small lightning bolt.

"Rapid Spin to aviod it!" Misty yelled upon seeing the bolt. Starmie started spining it body so quickly that it was able to counter gravity and aviod the bolt.

"Quick Attack into Iron Tail!" Ash countered. Raiden shot off with a white streak of energy behind him, his tail glowing silver. Right when the two Pokémon met, Raiden's tail slammed into Starmie's spinning form and, with the speed of Quick Attack behind it, knocked it into the water. "Now, Charge then Thunderbolt!"

"PIKA!" Raiden cried as he charged up before releasing a bolt of lightning, much stronger than the Thunder Shock he'd released earlier. Starmie screamed in pain but still managed to swim back to one of the platforms.

"Quick, use Recover!" Misty yelled. Starmie started glowing bluish-white in order to recover its strength.

"Oh no you don't! Shock them!" Ash responded. Raiden let loose another Thunder Shock in order to startle Starmie and cancle the move before strengthening the attack into a Thunderbolt. And that was all Starmie could take.

"Starmie is unable to battle, Pikachu wins this round. Since the Gym Leader has no other Pokémon, challenger Ashlyn wins the battle!" the ref. declared.

"That was amazing Raiden!" Ash said as the Pikachu came to settle on her shoulder once more.

"You did good Starmie, we just didn't win this time," Misty said as she returned her starter to its pokéball. Ash looked over at Misty's older sisters in the bleachers and saw them openly staring at the redhead in shock. She smirked before glancing back at her friend, who was approaching her from the right side of the pool.

"You did really well Ash," Misty said, holding out a blue teardrop-shaped badge. Ash accepted the Cascade Badge without prompting.

 **(~)(~)(~)**

That night, Raiden was sleeping beside Ash when he felt something strange from the corner of his awareness. He woke up and leaped into the windowstill, but only saw a flash of light pink before it was gone. The Electric-Type's ears twitched for a second before curling back up and going back to sleep.

After all, it was probably nothing.

* * *

 **Okay, how was that? Yes the battle was short, but they'll eventually get longer. I am only at three-on-three.**

 **Also, the 'free reign' is something that I'll be doing in all my Pokémon stories. It's basically to where Ash allows her Pokémon to battle the way they want instead fo having to listen for commands from Ash the whole time. It's especially fun when it's a large battle with multiple Pokémon on each side (we'll get to this later).**

 **Also, who do you guys think is the 'flash of pink light' at the end of the Chapter? i know it was a little random, but I wanted to show that things are happening.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter Seven should be out as soon as I finnish Chapter Eight (which is where Charmander comes in. I have** _ **plans**_ **for Damien).**

 **~pokedawnheart**

 **6/15/2018**


	8. Kanto VII

**Hey, sorry about the delay. I'm not exactly sure when but my muse for this story took a backseat when I started watching Yu-Gi-Oh on Netflix. I have Chapter Eight done and I was hoping to finish Chapter Nine before posting this, but, again, I have found a new obesession with Yu-Gi-Oh, and I actually have some story ideas for it. I don't know when I'll be able to update my stories when my muse is as controlling as it is.**

 **Anyway, thank you reviewers of Chapter Seven: foxchick1, multyfangirl20 and AshK1980.**

 **So please sit back, relax and enjoy the chapter!**

"We have everything?" Ash asked her older friend. It had only been a day since her battle with Misty and the trio were leaving for Vermillion City soon.

"We just need Pokémon food and for Misty to finish up at the Gym," Brock replied. Ash hummed before turning back to her three Pokémon who were practising their next moves: Thunder Punch for Raiden, Icy Wind for Nightwing and the finnishing touches of Grass Knot for Star.

"I'm here!" Misty yelled while running towards them, carrying the Pokémon food in her arms and her red sack on her right shoulder.

"So you talked them into letting you continue with us then?" Ash asked.

"Yup. Besides, you're the last of the newbies to pass through and a League offical will be coming to make sure my sisters do exactly what they need to until such a time as I return as Gym Leader," she explained.

"Well that's good," Brock said, the slightist hint of a blush on his cheeks. Ash nearly laughed out loud when she saw that, but kept it in through sheer will. It wouldn't do to laugh at Brock about the crush he was devolping on Misty because then he'd bring up Gary (whom Ash had _no_ romantic feelings for) and then they'd argue their points and it would just get annoying.

After Ash returned Nightwing and Star to their pokéballs, the trio of friends walked down the path to Vermillion City, talking all the while. It would take them five days to reach Vermillion, and they planned to make the most of it.

The rest of the day went quietly, the only interuption being when they came across some Pokémon Tech students and had to teach them a lesson on real life. The next day, they encountered a kid called AJ, who also needed a reality check. It was the day after that that things started to not look so good.

They had gotten lost and the only way to stop Misty from screaming at them was to stop for some lunch. They had stopped beside a small pond and were setting up lunch when Misty let out a squeal. Brock and Ash turned towards the pond, wondering what had caused the redhead to let out that noise when they saw a small Oddish drinking from the pond.

"Hey look, it's an Oddish," Ash said while watching the little Grass/Poison-Type.

"I'm going to catch it!" Misty squealed while releasing her Starmie.

But just then, Ash's vision flashed into shades of blue, and she saw the Oddish outlined in dark yellow and another prensence glowing dark green with hints of blood-red. Her instintics told her at that moment that something wasn't right. But she was too late to warn anyone.

Right when Starmie released its Bubble Beam attack, a Razor Leaf came out of nowhere and destroyed the bubbles. Then from the nearby bushes came a Bulbasaur, growling at them while herding the Oddish away with its vines. Once both dual-types were gone, all three travelers looked at each other in confusion.

"Okay, what was that about?" Misty asked while returning Starmie.

"My guess is is that the Bulbasaur didn't like the fact that you were going to hurt that Oddish, so the two most likely know each other," Ash explained, leaving out the weird 'shades of blue' vision she had.

"Why don't we follow them and see?" Brock suggested before doing just that. Ash and Misty looked at each other, shrugged and followed.

They followed the pair through a trap-filled path, hidden from the main road. Since Ash could somehow sense when they were coming up to a trap, she led the way and they reached a beautiful clearing filled with various Pokémon relaxing. But in the center of the clearing were a pair of humans, one a pretty blunette girl the other a tall, spikey-haired brunette boy.

"Gary!" Ash called, surprised to see her childhood friend there.

"Ash, I didn't know you were this turned around!" Gary replied, turning towards the trio. Ash felt her face heat up when her blue eyes happen to met his brown ones and rather quickly locked eyes with his Wartortle, who'd been a Squirtle the last time she'd seen him. Beside the turtle was Gary's other two Pokémon, Eevee and Sandshrew.

"I see that Wartortle is as happy as the last time I saw him," Ash commented, feeling dumb for saying that a moment later. Of course the turtle would still be happy with Gary, the guy was an amazing trainer.

"Raiden too. And what about Nightwing?"

"He's alright, stronger now that I've been training him. And I caught a new Pokémon!" Ash nearly sang, knowing that Gary would flip if he knew what kind of Pokémon she now had.

Just as she suspected, an interested light entered her friend's brown eyes. "Show me." It was with that simple phrase that Ash once more blushed furiously out of embarrasment for reasons that escaped her.

"Alright Star, come met a new friend," she said while releasing her Cleffa. But while the little Fairy-Type was cheering at being released and meeting more playmates, Ash's vision once more flashed into shades of blue. Somehow knowing what she'd find, she turned slightly and saw something glowing deep red before erupting from the bushes, tackling Ash right in her gut before running over to the blunette.

 _Again?_ Ash thought, wondering what was happening. It wasn't making any sense. But she pushed it out of her mind when she noticed the Bulbasaur staring at her and Gary curiously but cautiously.

Gary noticed where her attention was and sighed. "He's been doing that since I got here three days ago. I get the sense that we'd met before, but I can't remember where or when. And he apparently gets the same feeling about me and now you," he explained. Ash gave a slight hum as she thought about it. The only Bulbasaurs she knew were the ones that Professor Oak raised to be starters, but her and Gary didn't get emtionally close to the starters until they were seven. And the Bulbasaur in that group had been a warrior, through and through.

While she thought about the strange simularities, Brock and Misty were talking to the blunette Melanie, who was a breeder/healer. She had decided to work with wild Pokémon five years ago and had found the hidden clearing (and had jokingly called it a 'hidden village', which lead to the name of her clinic). She'd lived there with almost no human contact ever since. Bulbasaur was the protector of the village, after being found by Melanie three days after she came to the clearing. She had figured that his former trainer had abandoned him for some reason.

That's when it clicked. "Hey Gary?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember the starter trio we took care of five years ago with the Professor?" she questioned, hoping that it wasn't her imagination. The Bulbasaur was still staring at the pair with catious curiousity.

"Yeah, what of it?" She could tell that he wasn't really following her based on how annoyed he sounded, but he would in a second.

"I think that's the same Bulbasaur."

Silence. Everyone in the clearing was staring at her, wondering what she was talking about. The only exeptions were Gary and Bulbasaur, who were shocked. All three stared at each other, all hoping it was true. It was Bulbasaur who comfirmed it, running up to the two joyfully, happy to see someone from his better past. But with that joy came sadness, for he was left behind when his trainer had no more use for him, and he started to cry, something he hadn't done in five years.

Brave little warrior. That's what Ash used to call him. He'd taken that to heart, never crying no matter how much he'd wanted to. He knew that his two old friends, the other starters given in the same year as him, both had better luck with their trainers than him and he didn't hate them for it, but he was upset by the hand fate had given him. But now he knew that fate was giving him something more.

He wouldn't be needed by Melanie in a few days time since Gary managed to get her to agree to a League trainer being at the village for protection. He's time at the village had been great, but he knew that he couldn't stay forever. And he would allow no one but Ash to be his trainer, so that he could be one of her warriors once more.

With that in mind, he tapped an empty pokéball that was on her belt and let himself be captured.

To say that everyone was surprised by that turn of events was right. Ash quickly realesed him from the pokéball and got out her PokéDex to scan her old friend.

 **{Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon. Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed on its back grows progressively larger. This Bulbasaur is male and has the ability Overgrow. He knows the moves Tackle, Razor Leaf, Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Poison Powder and Sleep Powder. He also has the egg moves Leaf Storm and Power Whip, both of which are locked.}**

Ash almost couldn't believe what egg moves he had. Her and Gary were never allowed to know the starters' egg moves because it was never their place to know. But now that she did, she was amazed. Right at that moment, the perfect name popped into her mind.

"What do you think of Jarylo?" Bulbasaur studied her for a second before nodding his head joyfully.

Right at that moment, a brown and cream egg that was sitting beside Melanie started glowing and rocking, showing that it was about to hatch. Thankfully, Melanie had been prepard for the hatchling and everything went smoothly. That is, until it actually hatched.

It was an adorable Eevee. Its big brown eyes stared uncomprehindably for a few seconds before they focused.

On Ash.

With a joyfull yip, it got unsteadily to its paws and walked over to the one it procieved as 'mother', crawling onto Ash's lap and falling fast asleep. Ash froze in surprise before calming herself. It was natural for hatchlings to stay with their parents and since the hidden village didn't have any Eeveelutions it was likely that Eevee's real parents were gone. She was, however, startled that _she_ was the first person out of the five of them that Eevee saw.

Her PokéDex, which she never put up from scaning Jarylo, started speaking.

 **{Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Eevee has an unstable genetiv makeup that suddenly mutates due to the enviroment in which it lives. Radiation from various stones causes this Pokémon to evolve.}**

"Well, you are denfinatly coming with me little sweety," Ash said as she grabbed an empty pokéball from her belt and tapped Eevee gently with it. She then let her PokéDex continue its scan.

 **{This Eevee is female and has the ability Adaptability. She knows the moves Helping Hand, Tackle, Sand Attack, Swift and Bite. No egg moves.}**

Ash then released the little hatchling from its pokéball to see that she'd woken up and was now staring at everyone curiously.

 _-PokéSpeak Part-_

"She's cute," Wartortle said while watching the newly hatched Eevee greet the rest of her adoptive family.

"Yeah, maybe now but not when she's older," the older male Eevee said with a huff. Like Jarylo, Eevee had been abandoned by his trainer at the north entrance of Viridian Forest.

Just at that moment, the little hatchling wondered up to the trio, wonderment in her still-innocent brown eyes, Raiden beside her.

"Wow, do you really think that I could be that strong?" Eevee asked her older teammate.

"Of course. It'll be another three weeks before you can start any kind of training, but you'll catch up in no time," Raiden assured her.

"Why can't I start now?" she complained.

"You're too young."

"Plus you have to figure out what you want to evolve into, or if you want to evolve at all," the older Eevee said passively. The hatchling Eevee stared at him with confusion for a split second before comprehention dawned.

"Oh, I already know what I want to be; an Espeon," she said cheerfully.

"When'd you decide that?" Sandshrew asked.

"Three days ago," she shrugged.

"You weren't even hatched yet, how could you have decided then?!" Eevee exclaimed in shock.

"I don't know, I just _did_ ," she muttered.

"Well, now we need to tell Ash so that she can pick a name for you," Star said gently, though inwardly she was cheering at having another girl on the team. That and someone to play with.

 _-PokéSpeak Part End-_

Ash stared at her Pikachu as he tried to explain... _something_ to her. He'd point at Eevee, then himself, then Gary's Eevee, then her PokéDex then back to Eevee. It was really confusing.

"I think your hatchling wants to see your PokéDex," Gary said somewhat smugly.

"Why would you think that?" Brock asked.

"You don't think she's already decided what to evolve into, do you?" Misty continued.

"Only one way to find out I guess," Ash said while giving her PokéDex to Raiden, who chirped in thanks before scrolling through the entries. A few minutes later, he gave a cry of triumph and showed the four humans the entry on Espeon. "So, Eevee wants to evolve into Espeon?"

"Pika!" Raiden replied.

"Well then," Ash said, picking up her Eevee and looking her straight in the eye, "how do you like the name Celeste?"

"Euiv!" Eevee called, nodding her head rapidly.

"Celeste it is then!" Ash said.

It took another half-hour before the trio could leave, mainly because Celeste was running around playing the whole time. Gary had promised Melanie that he'd stay until the League trainer came so that Team Rocket and other Pokémon thieves wouldn't steal the Pokémon living there.

But just as the three trainers were leaving the Hidden Village, Ash's vision once more flashed into shades of blue and she could sense an old and powerful, but small, being for a few seconds before it vanished. Shaking her head, the strange vision ended, leaving her more confused then ever.

 _What's happening to me?_

 **So, what do you think is happening to dear Ash? I'd tell you, but that would give away the whole plot!**

 **Also, again I'm not sure how much more I can work with this story. My muse has been more focused on Yu-Gi-Oh than I care to admit, though I am writing a Shadows of Almia story (thank you Riley Sky for having so many good stories on Vatonageshipping!).**

 **Please leave a review and I'll see when I can update again, though it may not be for a while.**

 **~pokedawnheart**

 **8/9/2018**


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